"In what way can education help an individual fitting in with society?": this is the question that the Conference of the Education Ministers of the 49 countries that signed the Cultural Convention of the Council of Europe will try to answer. The meeting is due to take place in Istanbul (Turkey) on 4th and 5th May, in order to "outline educational policies that will enable everyone, since a young age, to fit in better with society and build a more humane and more inclusive Europe". Over 200 people will attend the conference, which will be focussed on three major subjects: children’s rights in the sphere of education; the introduction of educational policies that will promote social cohesion and the respect of diversity; lifelong learning. The meeting will probably be opened by the Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and by the deputy secretary general of the CoE, Maud de Boer. "Every child’s right to a quality education specifies a note from the CoE and a better understanding of multicultural society are some of the subjects that will be addressed" in Istanbul. The conference follows up on the Action Plan adopted by the Warsaw Summit (May 2005), called "Building a Europe for and with children", for protecting children’s rights and sheltering children from all forms of violence (info: www.coe.int/children).
